Ascent of Mount Saint Helens on 2018-03-31

Ascent Trip Report

Easter weekend ski tour, on the last day before permit season. A huge group of skiers, splitboarders and climbers spent Friday night in the Marble Mountain Sno-Park and rose ~4:30 am for a 5:25 am start. Soft snow under tree cover gave way to hard snow, requiring boot pack with crampons on ski boots all the way to the ridge. We saw one climber take a fall from ~7,000' to the bowl under the weather station ~5,700'; a skier and a snowboarder on their descent went to check on the man who was able to walk back to the trail - and was not there when we made our descent. It was slow-going bootpacking and on the steeper slopes with firm snow. Total time including breaks ~6 hours to the rim, and a short walk to the true summit in crust with sugar underneath. We waited until 1:45 pm to make our descent; snow was perfect spring corn all the way back to the parking lot. A *very* popular day to be out on the mountain.